Stigma: Marking the Soul
I returned to the creative writing that had always been my vocation. I submitted my best literary effort to Ms. Magazine, describing two spiritual experiences within madness. But the Ms. essay was rejected--an indication of the stigma against mental illness, even among enlightened women and the world of publishing.
Lessons:
- The ģemptinessī experience that led to my recovery at the IOL restored belief in a spiritual force in my life.
- This mental event was a subtle one that could easily have gone unnoticed.
- My madness was actually a ģwisdomī experience. The second half of the spiritual journey was to learn compassion, and how to help others.
- Accepting the spiritual transformations of madness enabled me to negotiate life as a woman alone and as a person labeled ģmentally ill.ī
Applications:
- It would be valuable to explore the nature of madness from the point of view of its similarity to drug-induced or spiritual experiences.
- There is no going back from the change in consciousness that results from madness. Recovery must proceed from the new consciousness.